Broadway Christian Church · Columbia, Missouri

Morning Worship · September 21, 2008

Nineteenth Sunday After Pentecost

Prayer of the Day

As we come to worship we are depending on your Eternal Presence. We come with pain, frustration, stress, and sorrow, and we know we’ll leave with happiness, peace, and joy. Thank you for your wisdom, truth, love, and peace. Empower us with your love so we can love and serve others. Amen.

Scripture

Colossians 3:1-10

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

Message

Set Your Mind on Higher Things

Dr. Larry E. Gallamore

Wouldn't it be amazing if you could find a way to deal with all your stress and strain?  Your present days are filled with constant stress.  You rush all day long trying to get things done and never get caught up.  You bring worries home and take the worries to bed with you.  After a restless night, you get up unrefreshed to repeat the process over and over again.  Your hearts yearn for the peace of mind that comes when you are worry-free.  You would give anything to be able to relax.  Imagine what it would be like to feel in control of your life again instead of being at the mercy of people, thoughts, and whims.

A few months ago, a lawyer friend of mine shared with me his amazing story.  He said, “Fourteen years ago I had a heart attack.  I had been driving myself mercilessly for years to get to the top.  I was under strain all day, and my rest at night was fitful and broken.  I never took a day off.  I never relaxed.  I never went to church because I was too busy trying to get ahead.  Then the attack occurred, and I was off work for several months.  During those long, lonely weeks, I thought a lot about life.  I knew if I wanted to live, I was going to have to refocus my life on God and on things that are above.”  He continued, “Colossians 3:2,: ‘Set your mind on things that are above; not on things that are on earth’ has become a proverb for me.  I'm more relaxed now, and I focus on more important things in life.  I had to 'set my mind on things above' to find peace.  I had to find my true plan in the world, my purpose."

Some of you are asking is this do-able?  Is it doable for you?  Absolutely!  God can help you deal with the stress and strain of life if you set your mind on important things.  As I read the New Testament, I’m always astonished at how Jesus was constantly focused on life's most important things; and yet, he never missed anything that was really important on earth.

Jesus taught people to look inside themselves to find answers.  They, heretofore, had been unfortunately looking for and not finding answers outside themselves.  Jesus marched around his world serving humanity.  He noticed a man with a withered hand, joined his belief with the man’s belief, and healed him.  He noticed an invalid by a pool in Bethesda who had somehow been overlooked for 38 years.  When Jesus suggested he take up his mat and walk (John 5:5-9), he got up and walked away.  If you focus on things above, you’ll not miss anything that is important on earth, and you'll be in a much better position to serve broken humanity.

However, there is one thing you must do as you begin to focus on things above.  You must let go of all the bad stuff in your life; stuff like anger, wrath, malice, slander, jealousy, gossip, and foul talk.  Ask Christ to help you with this.  You can’t do it on your own.  Remember John’s immortal words: “But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God (John 1:12).  With Christ you can let go of all the bad stuff and maximize your potential as a child of God.  God believes in you and is leading you away from temptation and the stress and strain of life toward things that are above; at times leaving you standing awe-stricken in God's presence.

I want to share a family secret with you. I have an uncle who was the meanest man I have ever known.  I’m not going to ask you to raise your hand if you have any relatives like that.  When I was a young 24-year-old pastor, this uncle called me to ask if I would visit him in the Veteran’s Hospital.  He had suffered a heart attack.  I told him I’d be right there.  When I arrived, he told me he was afraid he would die, and asked me to tell him how to give his life to Christ.  I prayed with him, and he promised God if he got out of the hospital alive, he would go the straight and narrow way.  I left that day thinking his religion wouldn't last ten minutes.  Boy, was I wrong!  I had to repent of my cynicism.  My uncle turned out to be an Assembly of God preacher, and no matter how hard I tried to tell my grandmother that I didn’t think my uncle was worth saving, she gave me credit for saving his life and gave God credit for saving his soul.

If you have bad feelings toward others, you need to let go of your anger, wrath, malice, slander, cynicism, foul talk, and all other negative attitudes.  After experiencing God’s power you'll discover God can save anyone.

You don’t have any problems that God can’t handle.  You can get rid of all the bad stuff in your life.  Turn it all over to God.  Let God forgive you, forgive yourself, and let God erase all your sins.

The next thing God will do for you is erase your worries as you set your mind on higher things. Faith in God is your greatest resource in overcoming the stress and strain of life.  You cannot afford to overlook it.  Is there anyone here today who hasn’t felt the strain of living?  To overcome the stress and strains of life, you must continually focus on the higher things of God.  You were born to follow God, not to be worried about many little details in life.  When people worry, they get down – down on others, down on themselves, and down on life in general.

A few days ago, I saw a man who had a huge tattoo on his arm that read “Born to Lose!”  I thought nothing could be farther from the truth.  It was all I could do to refrain from asking him if he really believed that.  I was afraid he would think I was being sarcastic.  I said a silent prayer for him right there in the store.  I knew he was not born to lose.  He was born to be a child of God.  He has no idea that there is no other person on earth exactly like him.  He doesn't know he has an important contribution to make.  He doesn't know he was born to be a winner instead of a loser.  People get down on themselves because they don't know they can rise to new heights of life and achievement if they believe God will help them become all they are supposed to be.  All they need is a little faith in God.  Just a little faith goes a long way.  Jesus said because of our faith will it be done to us.  That, my friends, is the way it works.  There are no arguments, no exceptions, no hair-splitting.  The worst thing that can happen to you is to lose your faith.  When faith is gone, there isn't anything left.

To develop a strong faith in God, in life, and in others you are compelled to let go of all the bad stuff in your life like anger, wrath, malice, slander, and foul talk.  You must get rid of all that stuff and focus on higher things.  If you'll do this, you'll discover why Jesus said, "I came that you might have life and have it more abundantly."

When you let go of the garbage in your life, God will help you erase all your worries.  Have you ever wondered what method Jesus used when he changed people?  You can't tell me you've never asked that question.  He never gave people the impression that he was imparting to them something magical and alien.  He simply discovered the best inside of them and brought it out into the open.

There is someone here today who is so worried about something, it's tearing you apart.  I don't know what it is.  None of us are mind readers.  Only God knows what is worrying you.  Listen carefully.  I want to tell you how to get rid of whatever it is that is troubling you.

There was once a man who felt he’d reached the end of his rope.  It seemed that all the interest had suddenly vanished from his life; his creative well had seemingly dried up.  He still had his work, but it suddenly seemed meaningless to him.  Even his family and his home receded darkly in his mind.

Finally, nearing the point of desperation, he went to see his old friend, the family doctor.  The doctor listened to his story, saw the depth of his depression, and asked him, “When you were a child, what did you like to do best?”

“I liked to visit the beach,” he said.

“All right,” the doctor said, “you must do exactly as I tell you.  I want you to spend all day tomorrow at the beach.  Find a lonely stretch of beach and spend the entire day there from nine o’clock in the morning until six o’clock in the evening.  Take nothing to read, and do nothing calculated to distract you in any way.  I’m going to give you four prescriptions in order.  Take the first at 9 a.m. , the second at noon, the third at 3 p.m., and the last at 6 p.m.  Don’t look at them now.  Wait until you arrive at the shore tomorrow morning.”

The man promised he would take the doctor’s advice and the next morning, a little before 9 a.m., he parked his car on a lonely stretch of beach. There was a strong wind blowing in from the sea, and the surf was high and pounding.

He walked to a sand dune near the seething surf and sat down. He took out prescription number one, opened and read it.  It said, “Listen.”  That was all that was written on it. For three hours that’s all he did.  He listened to the sound of the buffeting wind and the lonely cries of the gulls.  He listened to the sound of the booming surf. He sat quietly, and he listened.

At noon, he read the second prescription.  It said, simply, “Reach back.”  For the next three hours he did just that.  He let his mind go back as far as it could go, and he thought of all the incidents of his life he could remember: the happy times, the good times, the struggles, and the successes.

At 3 p.m., he tore open the third prescription.  It read, “Re-examine your motives.” This took so much intense thought and concentration that the remaining three hours slipped quickly by.  For three hours, he re-examined his motives, his reasons for living, and moved closer to fulfillment.  He clarified and restated his goals.

At 6 p.m., under a gray, darkening sky, and with a taste of salt spray on the wind, he read the fourth and final prescription.  It read, “Write your worries in the sand.”

There had been one thing that had been worrying him particularly, so he walked to the hard sand, and with a stick, wrote this worry in the sand.  He stood looking at it for a moment.  Then, as he walked toward where his car was parked, he looked back and saw that the incoming tide had already erased his worry.  He got in his car and drove toward home.

The late Norman Vincent Peale told that story some years ago.  Remember the beach and the four prescriptions: Listen, reach back, re-examine your motives, and then write your worries in the sand.

I suggest you try this and allow God to wash your worries away.

So be it. Amen.

Benediction

Guiding Lord, thank you for the way you love us. Thank you for always tuning in to us. Help us to turn our ears to heaven. You have so much to say to us; so many sweet and affirming words, so many cautions, comforts, and consults! Let us know your voice as a model for our own. Amen.